Qwen3 8B wins more areas, narrowly.Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B is cheaper.
Scores updated · 10 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the two areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
Coding rests on a single test.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B costs 95% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Qwen3 8B pulls ahead
- Graduate-level biology, physics and chemistry questionsGPQA Diamond+25points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+13.1points ahead
Where Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B pulls ahead
- Very hard expert questions across many subjectsHumanity's Last Exam+1points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 10 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
ReasoningEven
- GPQA DiamondQwen3 8B by 2533.958.9+25
- Humanity's Last ExamQwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B by 14.93.9+1
Other results7 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- MBPPQwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B by 6.583.577+6.5
- LiveCodeBench (v5)Qwen3 8B by 6.217.323.5+6.2
- MHPPQwen3 8B by 6.126.732.8+6.1
- HumanEvalQwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B by 3.688.484.8+3.6
- BigCodeBench (Full)Qwen3 8B by 2.948.851.7+2.9
- BigCodeBench (Hard)Qwen3 8B by 2.720.323+2.7
- AA IntelligenceQwen3 8B by 1.55.87.3+1.5
Questions people ask
Which is better, Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B or Qwen3 8B?
Qwen3 8B wins one of the two areas where both have results: coding. Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B wins none, but costs 95% less. They are level on reasoning.
Which is better for coding?
Qwen3 8B. It wins the one coding test both models report.
Which is cheaper?
Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B costs $0.01 per million input tokens and $0.03 per million output tokens; Qwen3 8B costs $0.18 and $0.70. That makes Qwen2.5 Coder Instruct 7B about 95% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 10 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 3 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 7 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.